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My 75 gal Journal - my first ever aquarium!

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Well, I think it's time to start a journal! The rest of my equipment will be delivered tomorrow. My stand is level, the sand substrate is in and I added a little over 50% of the R/O water last night. I will put in the decor (less the driftwood) and add the rest of the water tonight, then turn on the filtration and heaters.

75 gal with artificial plants
100 lbs Quikrete Commercial Grade Medium Sand
Several driftwood pieces
Black background (black poster board from the craft store)
2 - AC110's
2 - Aqueon Pro Heaters 250W each
Beamworks Single Bright 48-52 in LED to be added after the holiday
DIY (built by me ) wood canopy (exterior to be stained or painted in spring)
There will be no cats in the tank!!!

I set the tank on the stand a few weeks ago. I was not able to use the Craigslist tank that I purchased with the stand - the watermarks would not come off. I tried all the methods suggested here and on other forums, but the marks remained. When I put the tank out on garbage day you could really see how badly it was marked in the sunlight. Fortunately the stand is worth what I paid for it, the 75 gal and the QT! And on Black Friday my LFS had a sale on 75 gal Aqueon tanks for $79.99. So it worked out okay. The stand is a secondhand industrial shelving unit. I absolutely love it.

Leveled the stand and added my sand substrate. Did a dry run with the driftwood and the artificial plants. I am waiting for tomorrow's delivery of aquarium epoxy so I can attach the driftwood to the slate pieces (didn't want to drill holes and use screws). My LFS said this wood will never sink, so I will need to attach it to the slate and bury it in the sand.

When I added the R/O water, I used Lady Hobbs suggestion of putting a plastic garbage bag over the sand - I had no dust and only a little bit of cloudiness. Thanks LH for the tip! I purchased a small 185 gph pond pump to fill the tank from my 5 gal buckets. It worked like a dream!

Here are some pics showing tank progress:

My DIY Canopy - the back part (about 1/3 of the top) also opens for access to the filters and other necessities2012-12-02 10.01.18.jpg

Dark pic of tank & stand & 20 gal QT underneath main tank. I still have to trim out the 1 1/2 inches of plywood the stand sits on2012-12-02 10.02.38.jpg

Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence.
Once you learn to quit, it becomes a habit. -Vince Lombardi
“Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.” ― John WoodenSandy Hook Elementary......Lest We Forget
See my profile for my tanks and what fish I keep

Well, it's been almost 5 weeks (Jan 2) since I started to cycle my tank. Cycled (with the help and advice of my LFS) my tank with Tetra Safe Start, 7 neon dwarf rainbows, 4 scissortail rasboras and 6 zebra danios. Lost 5 danios in the first 24 hrs. They were starter fish and were going to be returned to my LFS when my tank cycled. The rainbows, scissortails and the 1 danio survivor are all doing great. I have read that the captive bred zebra danios are not such hardy fish like they used to be due to inbreeding. I was very concerned that my cycling method was the cause, but apparently that's not the case, as all the other fish are doing great. I felt very bad that I brought them home and they died. I know this can happen, but it didn't seem to be a very good start and I really felt bad.

My tank cycled in about 2 weeks and has had 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites and 5-10 nitrates ever since. On 1/26 I added 1 scissortail rasbora (to complete my school at 5), 4 albino (golden) pristella tetras (will add 6 more this Saturday to complete the school at 10)) and a small danio friend for my lone survivor. My danio was not being nice to the other fish and I couldn't catch him in the 75 gal (I tried for 25 minutes). I know danios are schooling fish and should be in a school of at least 5, but I didn't want to try 4 more, so I got him a small danio friend and he seems much happier. When my LFS gets in neon dwarf rainbows that are a little bigger (the ones they have now are very young and you can't tell males from females) I will be adding 1 more male and 1 more female to complete the school at 9. Was going to add 6-8 peppered cories down the road, but the scissortails will be staying. They were purchased as starter fish, but I really like them and have decided to keep them. Without the cories I will have 26 fish and I am happy with that number. I may reconsider adding the cories at a later date.

I purchased a SpectraPure RO/DI unit and have done 2 water changes (just did one Saturday using my new unit). Love the unit and not having to buy and haul 5 gallon buckets of water from the LFS!!!

Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence.
Once you learn to quit, it becomes a habit. -Vince Lombardi
“Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.” ― John WoodenSandy Hook Elementary......Lest We Forget
See my profile for my tanks and what fish I keep

Thanks, Steeler1. I think I did an okay job with my first aquarium. All the fish I have chosen like a heavily planted environment and that is what I have given them! They love to move about in the plants (particularly the heavy planting on the left side) and have some shaded places to rest. My 2 AC110s are on high and the fish really like moving about in the current. Sometimes they face upwards, right into the current coming from the waterfall and just swim for 5 seconds or so. I love when the rainbows or tetras gather in the corner and then glide across the whole tank length in the current, turn around and do it again going the other way. Really entertaining to watch! I'm even more thrilled with my tank than I thought I would be. Sometimes I watch the fish and forget to watch the TV. Thank goodness for my DVR!!!

I now what you mean, my 75 gal is set up next to my reclyner and I have rewind to see what somebody said or did.

Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence.
Once you learn to quit, it becomes a habit. -Vince Lombardi
“Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.” ― John WoodenSandy Hook Elementary......Lest We Forget
See my profile for my tanks and what fish I keep